Gulf of Oman Attacks

[Travellingtaff]

Jules of the Seas

Perhaps you'd be good enough to keep us posted on their response.

miniyorkie

You're welcome. This Thursday for you balance payment sounds a bit early considering P&Os deadline is 90 days prior to the to the departure date. Please let us know if find out any from them.

 

There are plenty of other cruise companies in the area in October-December including Tui,  Marella, Aida, Princess, Costa,

Azamara and others. They can be found using this link. https://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-from-dubai-united-arab-emirates.html  So it would be interesting to see if there is any concern being expressed on other forums.

[Jules of The Seas]

As suspected, will be guided by the Foreign Office. Problem is, we have to pay in full by the 19th July, so once that happens will they issue refunds or move us to another cruise if FO says do not go?. We may consider cancelling and losing our deposit.

[Travellingtaff]

Our TA has indicated that in the event of a change of itinerary or cancellation we will have the options of changing the cruise, free of charge, or receiving a refund.

 I understand from FAQs on the P&O website that there is also the option, prior to 90 days before departure, of transferring the deposit to another cruise, various conditions apply including a £100 fee per booking.   

[tring]

20 hours ago, Travellingtaff said:

Our TA has indicated that in the event of a change of itinerary or cancellation we will have the options of changing the cruise, free of charge, or receiving a refund.

 I understand from FAQs on the P&O website that there is also the option, prior to 90 days before departure, of transferring the deposit to another cruise, various conditions apply including a £100 fee per booking.   

 

We did this with a cruise we could not go on due to family reasons last summer.  Conditions are the cruise has to be the same price or more and within a year of when the original cruise departed.  It also means that you cannot transfer again as it is something you can only do once.

 

I think that was all the conditions, along with the prior to 90 days prior and £100 admin fee,  but also has to be a single cruise.  That may sound obvious, but the cruise we had booked was a 23 nighter fly cruise on Oceana at the end of the Med season last year and ending in Southampton.  We looked at equivalents for this year and found they were only offering 7 or 14 nights so they were cheaper cruises and if we had done a back to back we would still have had to pay the price of our original cruise for one of those, so 14 nights max, so could only have done that with a big upgrade which we did not want.  Booked something else instead, but would not have been a first choice of cruise.

 

Best waiting to see what happens, if cruise re routed to totally different area then obviously it would be a major change so you would have to be allowed a full refund and may get a sweetener as well, or instead of (perhaps a reduction on another cruise).  Personally I think the cruises will go ahead,  We have just spent a number of weeks wondering about a 1.5 week land stay and cruise from Sri Lanka next Feb.  FOC now withdrawn restrictions on Sri Lanka, but cruise finishes in Dubai with another land stay.  Anything can happen anywhere, not worth worrying about it or would spend your life looking over your shoulder.  Need to see what the situation is nearer to the time.

 

By the way, I do not know what insurance other people have got, but a number of insurances do give cover for terrorism now - ours does.  Need to check the small print when purchasing insurance. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by tring

[bodgerday]

Still looking dodgy.  Have booked in January.  What are the chances of Oceana being relocated?  I will still go, unless the government advise otherwise, but would think P&O would change their plans if that was the case.

[Harry Peterson]

Just now, bodgerday said:

Still looking dodgy.  Have booked in January.  What are the chances of Oceana being relocated?  I will still go, unless the government advise otherwise, but would think P&O would change their plans if that was the case.

You can safely assume that P&O will not want to take any risks with its ships or its passengers.  If there are safety issues at the time, it will be rerouted.

[miniyorkie]

20 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

You can safely assume that P&O will not want to take any risks with its ships or its passengers.  If there are safety issues at the time, it will be rerouted.

Friends who are on the repositioning with us ( 7th Oct)  have just returned from their Oceana Malta cruise and were told onboard by staff that P/O will already have contingency plans in place and confirmed that if there are any doubts then the cruise will be repositioned. It may be a magical, mystery tour. Still hoping that all works out ok and the itinerary is not amended.

[snaefell]

Miami 1980,our first visit to the USA,cue riotsm in Miami,fast forward to 1992(I think!),our first visit to Los Angeles,cue the LA riots,coming soom our trip to Hong Kong,now then where have they been riots recently,don't know how these people know we are coming!

More seriously though,as has been said,where are you safe & it doesn't necessarily involve leaving home,sadly a number of poor souls lost their lives in their own homes at Lockerbie & they are not a unique case.

[Balaena]

6 hours ago, snaefell said:

Miami 1980,our first visit to the USA,cue riotsm in Miami,fast forward to 1992(I think!),our first visit to Los Angeles,cue the LA riots,coming soom our trip to Hong Kong,now then where have they been riots recently,don't know how these people know we are coming!

More seriously though,as has been said,where are you safe & it doesn't necessarily involve leaving home,sadly a number of poor souls lost their lives in their own homes at Lockerbie & they are not a unique case.

Mmmmm my view is not to go into troubled areas as all you are doing is potentially looking for trouble or possibly, trouble comes looking for you.

Seems to me that many contributors to my original post are comfortable about going into an area of conflict but looking at the escalating situation I must say I'd rather be cruising elsewhere where I can wake up in the morning and breath the fresh air without checking out any the potential threats lurking about on the horizon. But as is often said, each to their own.

Bal

[bee-ess]

I think that yesterdays events in the region must put this season programme in serious doubt. I'm not sure that we would go now in the current situation if we were booked to. Hopefully P&O will find a good alternative if the decision is taken not to go but I feel they should give people the opportunity to cancel or at least to transfer to another cruise with no charge.

Edited July 20, 2019 by bee-ess

[miniyorkie]

16 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

I think that yesterdays events in the region must put this season programme in serious doubt. I'm not sure that we would go now in the current situation if we were booked to. Hopefully P&O will find a good alternative if the decision is taken not to go but I feel they should give people the opportunity to cancel or at least to transfer to another cruise with no charge.

bee-ess. I agree entirely and we are on the 17th repositioning with friends. We have  all previously  discussed as to whether to change the cruise but were relying on P/O to inform us. That time is now. It must be a logistical problem for them as the winter schedule for Oceana has to be considered but passengers should now be informed of the alternatives and not weeks before departure. What do others  think possible itinerary changes may be considering the geographical location and winter weather limitations. 

[snaefell]

13 minutes ago, miniyorkie said:

bee-ess. I agree entirely and we are on the 17th repositioning with friends. We have  all previously  discussed as to whether to change the cruise but were relying on P/O to inform us. That time is now. It must be a logistical problem for them as the winter schedule for Oceana has to be considered but passengers should now be informed of the alternatives and not weeks before departure. What do others  think possible itinerary changes may be considering the geographical location and winter weather limitations. 

The problem with such situations is that they can be resolved quite quickly so planning too far ahead may only amplify problems,similarly such things can emerge or escalate just as quickly.

[Teet]

Yes I agree situations can be resolved or can escalate just as quickly.  But

my opinion is it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.  So P and O need to make a decision sooner rather than later to give people time to make alternative arrangements if they are planning to cancel. Logistically not sure how they can change itinerary.  We join ship on 1 Nov.  I spoke with P and O and have been told it is 'business as usual'.

 

 

[Bobblehat71]

Has anyone had confirmation that P&O will offer a full refund in the event that the have to change the itinerary?

We are booked on the 17th November Sailing so final payment due next month. Currently checking my insurance but not sure it covers this kind of conflict.

[Travellingtaff]

31 minutes ago, Bobblehat71 said:

Has anyone had confirmation that P&O will offer a full refund in the event that the have to change the itinerary?

We are booked on the 17th November Sailing so final payment due next month. Currently checking my insurance but not sure it covers this kind of conflict.

We and another couple are booked on 1 November sailing. 

This is an extract from Para 40 of P&O's Cruise Booking Conditions  "....... If P&O Cruises makes a significant alteration to the Package it will inform the Guest or his/her travel agent as soon as reasonably possible. The Guest will have the choice of either accepting the alteration, accepting an offer of an alternative Package of comparable standard if available (P&O Cruises will refund any price difference if the alternative is of a lower value) or cancelling the Package and receiving a full refund of all monies paid."

It all depends on the interpretation of what is "significant" and this could vary depending on the preferences of the particular client. It follows that P&O could make changes to an itinerary which they do not consider to be "significant" and not bother to tell clients or travel agents and passengers would not find out about changes until they get on board.

[Teet]

Yes it depends on P & Os interpretation of 'significant'

We had 2 island changes in the Caribbean and were not notified,

only found out by looking at cruise personaliser.  Not sure how

an itinerary change would work, as the ship still needs to sail to Dubai

and looking at the map it needs to go through the Straits of Hormuz 

unless anyone knows any different.

 

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

P&O's view of the meaning of 'significant' may well differ from that of their customers - witness the line they've taken on their own decision to switch Amsterdam for Ijmuiden on cruises already booked for Amsterdam.

 

Ultimately, though, it's not a decision for P&O to take - if they take an unreasonably restrictive view of what the word means it's always up for legal challenge if necessary.

[Eglesbrech]

We had a cruise booked with TUI when there was all the carry on in Egypt, they kept the cruises running right up until the government issued a formal warning. They kept going presumably because their insurance, like most private polices only kicks in at that point when the the instruction not to travel is given.

 

I was not happy with the prospect of waiting to see and perhaps having to go to a place that I might not feel 100% safe so decided to change the cruise myself for a small fee, rather than wait for a change at the last minute. That way I was able to choose an alternative that suited me.

 

We are all different and for me the prospect of being there was not going to make it a happy cruise before we even left, others are made of sterner stuff and were quite happy to go I am sure. 

 

P&O will obviously take government advice and move the ship (as TUI did) and ensure passenger safety once a directive is issued. The alternatives however re a replacement cruise are anyone’s guess.

 

Hope it all settles and folks can just enjoy the holidays they have booked.

[terrierjohn]

25 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

P&O's view of the meaning of 'significant' may well differ from that of their customers - witness the line they've taken on their own decision to switch Amsterdam for Ijmuiden on cruises already booked for Amsterdam.

 

Ultimately, though, it's not a decision for P&O to take - if they take an unreasonably restrictive view of what the word means it's always up for legal challenge if necessary.

I think it unlikely that a switch away from the Gulf could ever be seen as a anything but a very significant major change even by P&O.  In which case passengers will be allowed to cancel and obtain a full refund, if they so wish, staying with ship will depend on whether the passengers think its an adequate replacement.

[jeanlyon]

If you don't go through the Gulf, it's difficult to see where you would go.  Flaming long way round Africa!!

[tring]

18 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

If you don't go through the Gulf, it's difficult to see where you would go.  Flaming long way round Africa!!

 

I think you may have confused The Gulf with Suez Jeanlyon.

 

Clearly they cannot run cruises out of Dubai if the Straghit of Hormuz is out of bounds and would also put paid to most if not all cruise ports from there, so has to be a major change.  If they leave it too long though they may not find another venue easy to sell if people booked at present just ask for a refund. 

 

I do not see them sailing out of India for all ports because of the need for visas.  The Indian Ocean islands, although possible, would mean long, expensive flights.  Maybe just the Eastern Med - perhaps with a bit of the northern Red Sea for a couple of cruises.  Or would they just do the predictable sending another ship to The Caribbean, perhaps with a couple of other ports, which is about as exotic that P&O get on a regular run.  I wonder though......  I agree it is looking a bit iffy at present, but things could change.

Edited July 22, 2019 by tring

[jeanlyon]

No, I know it's the Persian Gulf.  Just saying if you go through Suez, you have no choice, but to continue through Hormuz.  So that's a no-no.

[terrierjohn]

42 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

No, I know it's the Persian Gulf.  Just saying if you go through Suez, you have no choice, but to continue through Hormuz.  So that's a no-no.

Oceana only goes through the Suez canal on its repositioning cruises, the rest are fly cruises, one route stays in the gulf keeping well away from Iran, the other does 2 transits through the straits of Hormuz to visit Muscat, so that would possibly be a problem.

[tjwa]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

If you don't go through the Gulf, it's difficult to see where you would go.  Flaming long way round Africa!!

The Suez Canal does not exit into the Persian Gulf.

Edited July 22, 2019 by tjwa

[Teet]

Fly cruise picks up in Dubai then onto Abu Dhabi, Manama, Bani Yas and when 

visiting Muscat and Khasab goes through the Straits of Hormuz and then returns to Dubai.